July 5, 2009
We awoke bright and early (not really) to hop onto yet another coach bus tour. This time, we would see the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher, both of which are south of Galway City and within the county of Clare.
The Burren (Boireann, meaning "great rock" or "rocky place") is karst-landscape region. I had no clue what a karst landscape is, so I looked it up. According to Wikipedia, karst topography is a "landscape shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock, usually carbonate rock such as limestone or dolomite."
The Burren hosts many monuments and sites of ancient Ireland (which of course, we did not see, save for one). However, the Burren might best be remembered in a quote by Edmund Ludlow, the second-in-command of Parliamentary forces in Ireland during the Cromwellian era. He said the Burren "is a country where there is not water enough to drown a man, wood enough to hang one, nor earth enough to bury them."
Ludlow's comments are best demonstrated by the three pictures above. As you can see, most of the landscape is covered in rock, and there is hardly any soil to be had. The soil that is there is very rich in nutrients, and thus the Burren is home to some fantastic flora. We didn't really stop to get at any point for a good picture of the Burren landscape, but it is mainly composed of hills (like the one in the first picture) that cover about 250 square kilometers.We stopped at the village of Doolin for an early lunch since our bus driver hoped to beat the crowds that rolled in with other coach bus tours.
There was a nice song written on the walls of the restaurant, and the lyrics are below:
I dream I hear a piper play,
Maybe it's a notion,
I dream I see white horses,
Dance upon that other ocean,
It's a long way,
From Clare to here.
We had a little spare time, so I went to a small jewelry shop just past the restaurant. As soon as I left it, it started to rain, and so I went back and sought shelter in the restaurant. The day never looked very promising and our driver was hoping to reach the Cliffs of Moher before the storm came rolling in.
At some point in their life, most people have already seen a picture of the Cliffs of Moher. Perhaps they don't recognize it by name, but they will surely recognize a picture of it. It was the number one tourist attraction in Ireland until the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin stole its place (this is only possible in Ireland).
My best picture of the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs tower above the Atlantic Ocean, ranging from 394 feet to 704 feet, and extend 8 kilometers in length.
A view of the cliffs from the other side. The picture above was taken close to the O'Briens Tower (visible in the photo). I had to pay 3 Euro to take photos from the top, but there wasn't a great view from there. At least, nothing better than what was visible on the ground.
A picture of the countryside behind the cliffs, taken from O'Brien's Tower. Believe it or not, there were grazing cows, standing about 50 feet behind the edge visible here. Of course, there were fences to keep them safe, but it was rather amusing to see them walking about so calmly, unknowing that they lived so close to a sheer drop to the ocean.
As always, there isn't a single day in Ireland when there isn't a chance of rain. Unfortunately, just at the time when we were at the Cliffs, a nice storm rolled right in. At that time, I didn't know what kind of picture I took because I was trying to shield myself and the camera from the rain. I did not manipulate the colors in this photo, but the fog and rain made the cliffs look black and white while the grass in front retains its color.The rain was by far, one of the worst things to happen on that visit. I got completely drenched and the cliffs were completely shrouded behind the fog. Apparently, the good visibility we had earlier was a bit of luck - sometimes, the visitors can't even see their own hands in front of them due to the thick fog.
The visitors rained down on the visitor centre en masse and we had to wait inside until the rain let up a bit. I used that time to dry off (which wasn't very successful) only to proceed back out in the rain to take some more pictures.
Due to the dangerous nature of the cliffs, protective fences have been built to keep visitors safe and to prevent people from attempting to jump off. These fences have been built up to a certain point and at that point, there is a large board that says, "Please do not go past this point". Visitors literally have to jump a small, concrete fence to get past that point. If visitors choose to walk past, they are assuming all the risk in that adventure.
There is a little worn out path along the edge of cliffs and it was visible from where I was standing. However, I was amazed at the sheer bravery (and stupidity?) of people to attempt this after it had rained. The ground was slick and the mud made it treacherous. I saw an old couple trying to get past the board and the old man suddenly slipped and fell on the mud. Luckily, he fell just in front of the board, and even if he had managed to slide, the board would have caught him. However, his camera fell in the mud and his clothes were utterly ruined.
I don't think I would have the stomach to attempt it. I am scared of heights and just seeing people walk past the board made me queasy. It would be possible to attempt with good walking boots when the ground was dry and hard. I was a bit jealous of those who were up there, because I'm sure they had an amazing view of the cliffs. However, conditions can be treacherous. High winds can suddenly knock a person off balance and it is advised to never carry an umbrella, unless one wants to end up like Mary Poppins.
It was beautiful, intimidating, and I felt like staying there at least until the weather cleared up. It eventually did, but only as we left the car park. We only had an hour break at the Cliffs and a good ten minutes was wasted trying to hide from the torrential downpour.
So, after we left the Cliffs of Moher, we kept driving around the Burren and we stopped for about 10 minutes at the Poulnabrone (Poll na mBrón) Dolmen.
This is an ancient portal tomb dating back 4,500 years. An excavation of the site found the uncremated remains of 20 adults and six children, alongside other pieces of pottery, weaponry, and jewelry. This is perhaps one of the most famous and most photographed dolmen, due to its short distance from the road.After leaving the dolmen, we drove until we reached Ailwee Caves, a limestone cave underneath one of the large hills of the Burren. It was nice to see, but since I've seen many limestone caves in America, it wasn't that exciting, especially after seeing the Cliffs of Moher.
After a brief tour of the caves, we drove back to Galway City. From there, we caught the bus back to Dublin, and it was the most wretched time of my stay in Ireland. I had a massive headache (most likely because I was still soaked from the rain) and the minute I got home, I took some aspirin and went to sleep.
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